The Mask And Lord Of The Flies English Literature Essay

Do we hide behind a mask full of layers? What is the nature of humanity without religion, morals and ideologies? Behind a mask of ideologies, morals and religion one is full of jealousy, envy, lust, greed and savagery! In human nature selfishness, savagery and greed dominates ones genetics but because of the ideologies our minds adopt from an early age, we change and become what one’s society accepts. Thomas Hobbes a famous English philosopher once stated that “The condition of man…is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.”[From his book Leviathan]. Thomas Hobbes meant in his famous quote that everyone is against everyone because everyone in this world wants more or wants what another person has and in order to get that object or person they want so much they create problems between the person and them. Thomas Hobbes says that when one is born their born with selfishness and greed. Human nature is not about the community it’s about the well being of an individual. In Lord of the flies Golding shows how a group of school boys leave a well organized society in both literary and figurative matters to become lost students on a deserted island with no adult supervision. Thomas Hobbes theory is proven right in Lord of the flies. William Golding shows how the boys go from unification with small problems to no unification at all just because of greed, selfishness and hunger for power. William Golding uses various literary techniques in his novel to show how a group of English 12 year olds free from any social rules become SAVAGE. Golding uses the pig head a very important symbol towards the end of the book to represent the evil and savagery going on he also uses a character like Simon to try to make his peers realize that the only people they could be scared of is themselves.

The Pig is a symbol used by Golding that exhibits the reality of human nature. Golding uses the pig to slowly show the boys level of savagery. When Jack first kills a pig he is very scared”… because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.” (Page 31) Jack is scared of killing the pig in chapter 1, “a fear he overcomes as he sheds civilization and adopts the way of the savage.” This is from http://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/34385.aspx. When Jack and his crew started hunting it was disobeying and disrespectful to Ralph because Ralph told him to watch the fire. Jack on the other hand killed a pig not for the own good of the community but to gain status and power through ought the children; he did it out of pure selfishness! Throughout the novel Jack uses his hunting skills as a way to convince the other children to leave Ralph and follow him. The first pig they killed represented their thirst and lust for meat, the first pig showed a new side of them the savage side. Hunting then became regular they hunted every time they felt like it! “‘Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!'”- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 7 This is the hunters chant when they’re killing a pig this shows how creepy things are getting how simple children are now obsessed with killing. Unlike the first time they found pleasure in killing the pigs, they liked seeing the blood rushing out of the pig, they loved all that violence! The boys became savages!! Golding uses the pig in the beginning and end of the novel to reveal how human nature is evil without its social rules. In the beginning the pig was hunted down and killed. They enjoyed killing the pig which showed how their savagery and lust to see blood grew bigger and bigger.

At the end the boys started believing there was a beast on the island because of a littlun that saw a shadow that looked like a beast. The story grew bigger and the boys were really scared “‘Maybe there is a beast….maybe it’s only us.'”- Piggy, William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 5. The whole island was worried about the beast but piggy and Simon were the only ones who thought that maybe the beast was them “humans”. As more and more boys believed there was a beast the tension grew and the unification of the group started collapsing. Jack and the hunters decided to hang a dead pig’s head on a stick in order to attract the beast and kill it. The pigs head was “dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth,” and the “obscene thing” was covered with a “black blob of flies”. The pig head represents the evil and darkness found in the thoughts and doings of the human beings. The pig head is the beast itself and the beast is the human being. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (143) this quote is said by the Lord of the flies (pig head) to Simon. The lord of the flies is the thoughts of every human being, the pure evil in everyone. It tells Simon that its part of him and that he has nowhere to hide because that’s how everything is, pure evil savagery selfishness and jealousy. Golding uses irony a lot during this passage to show how the beast the lost boys are trying to hunt down is actually them “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!!” (143) said by head to Simon showing how immortal human nature is. Golding uses the pig head to show how being isolated from the modern world brings out the evil side and real human nature in everyone “What are you doing out here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me?” (143) lord of the flies to Simon. On a literal level Simon is all alone and a scary like pig figure asks him if he’s scared of him but on a figurative level this quote represents how human beings when found by their selves find their true selves and can’t escape from their darkness and evilness. Golding uses the image of the pig to convey pure evil in human beings and throughout a Christ like figure like Simon; Golding portrays goodness despite of the evil.

Simon is portrayed as a unique and Christ like figure from beginning to end. Simon is part of the choral but he is the most unique in the whole choir. “The choir boy who had fainted sat up against a palm trunk…and said that his name was Simon” (22) said by narrator. Simon was the only one who had fainted and according to jack he faints all the time. Simon’s faints foreshadow something bad because Simon also faints when he meets the Lord of the flies at the end. Simon is described as a “skinny, vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse.” (24) Told by narrator. Simon is Christ like figure because he is peaceful in his actions, all the times he went on expeditions with Ralph and Jack he was never scared but always very quiet, thoughtful and wise! When everyone started suspecting there was a beast he said “maybe there is a beast but maybe we are the beasts” (Ch.5). He and piggy were only ones who thought maybe the actual beasts are us. Simon is a very courageous character just like the Christ. Simon died for his fellow people just like The Christ died for his fellow people.

In the novel Golding represents Simon as the good and the hope left for humanity the opposite of the pig head and the devil. Simon finds the pig head Jack had slaughtered and has a very long talk with the pig head. Simon discovers that the pig head is in everyone its part of every human in the world and that the beast isn’t anything they can hunt down. The beast is real human nature. Simon finally discovers that savagery has blinded them to thinking that the parachutist was mistaken for a beast so he runs off to tell them but they mistake Simon for the beast and kill him. Simon was about to reveal the whole truth about the “dead man on the hill” but they didn’t hear him or see him because they were too busy chanting “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! “(152). their famous hunger filled, savage filled, devilish chant cost them their friend’s life when he was going to tell them who the beast really was. Simon was the only bit of hope left on the island he represented good but ended up slowly fading away like good in human nature it slowly fades away until there’s the pure evil that was there from the beginning. The reason of his death is his own community just like the Christ. His own community blinded by savagery by the ugly evil of human nature. Ironically they do end up killing a small part of the beast but not all of it. Savagery blinded them all into thinking that Simon was the beast literally but figuratively the beast is part of every human; mind and soul!

In conclusion, Golding uses the pig and Simon to show how the nature of human is pure evil and even if there’s a little good it soon fades away! Real human nature is only found behind the layers and layers of mask that are full of moral issues. Human nature is about an individual not a community your needs not their needs selfishness and evil! The layers of mask open up when in moment of isolation and when real human nature is revealed all there is; jealousy, lust, greed, evil that’s what’s called SAVEGRY! We are SAVAGE!